


Rain

by ultharkitty



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-10-28 15:59:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultharkitty/pseuds/ultharkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vortex and First Aid come to an understanding.</p><p>Response to <a href="http://tfanonkink.livejournal.com/7561.html?thread=8596873#t8596873">this prompt</a> on the kinkmeme.</p><p><b>Contains:</b> explicit sticky, unhealthy dynamic at first, consent issues, noncon shading to talk of rape fantasy in first chapter, D/s, non-graphic BDSM. Potential trigger first chapter only: rape/sexual assault. Now with added plot and happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"You didn't report it," Vortex whispered. He needn't speak up; First Aid's audial was close enough to lick.

The Autobot trembled, but failed to reply. His thighs, however, pressed a little tighter either side of Vortex's hips, and his valve quivered around Vortex's spike.

The interrogator grinned, and held completely still. "Hoist reported it."

"Hoist?" First Aid froze, and his voice shook as beautifully as his frame. "Please tell me you didn't…"

"I didn't," Vortex said. "But I gave it a shot. There he was, all alone in the aftermath of battle, just like you." He adjusted his grip on First Aid's wrists, tugging them higher above his head. "But he was armed. You're meant to be armed, aren't you? And he was alert. I'm pretty sure you're meant to be alert too." He pulled back just enough to see First Aid's face. "He commed for backup soon as saw me. That's not something you've ever done." He stole a taste of First Aid's lips. "Is it?"

First Aid squirmed, hips bucking and back arched. Funny how his struggles had become that much more intense since Vortex had stopped with the straightforward interfacing and started with the questions.

When it became obvious that the Autobot had nothing verbal to add, Vortex leant his weight on First Aid's chest, and continued. "And where's your gestalt?" A pause to enjoy the panic in his expression, the brief roar of the Autobot's engine. "Shouldn't they be watching over you?" He thrust once and First Aid keened. "Shouldn't they protect you from all this?"

At long last, the fear emerged. Not the shivering, trembling terror Vortex was certain the Autobot had been faking since their first encounter, but genuine fear. It was highly intriguing.

"Unless…" He pinned both of First Aid's wrists in one hand, freeing the other to adjust the angle of the medic's hips. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the heat and the squeezing tight pressure around his spike, then gave his prey's ceiling node the slow, grinding attention it deserved.

This time First Aid's head slammed back, making a dent in the leaf-strewn forest floor. His keening became a howl, and his fingers clawed at the air.

"Unless you've been playing me," Vortex said, and picked up the pace. For a while, it was like it had been the first few times; the Autobot tense and whimpering, open for the taking. He only stopped when the overload warnings began to flash. "Unless you wanted this all along."

"You…" First Aid panted, his voice broken and his valve clenching hard. "You made it obvious, what you wanted." His optics went dim, and his lips pressed together in a firm, pained line. The heat rolled off him, arousal and embarrassment, and he put in a valiant effort to calm his engine.

"I made it easy, did I?" Vortex twisted his words. "I gave you exactly what you wanted…"

"It isn't like that!" First Aid cried, but this time he didn't struggle. He didn't squirm or writhe, or even try to escape. He slumped, his arms going limp, his thighs loosening their grip. Only his valve continued to contract, and Vortex truly couldn't guess if that was intentional or not. "I didn't… I didn't mean this. Oh scrap, I…" First Aid turned his head, as close to avoidance as he could manage.

"You...?" Vortex prompted.

"I should have reported it," First Aid said, and his voice was barely a whisper. The light behind his visor died, and a fresh bloom of heat radiated from him. "But I didn't. I wasn't meant to be there. I'd gone because… because I knew you'd be there, and I knew what you wanted."

"You knew?" Vortex was enthralled, as much by the Autobot's obvious humiliation as by his confession. "Tell me."

"The way you look at me. The way you talked to me that time in Arizona, the way you… touched me, when Brawl had us captive. I…" He pressed his face to the dirt. "I shouldn't have, but I wanted to know, really _know_ , and then Grimlock arrived, and…"

And the two Combaticons had fled in the face of four furious Dinobots. "And you escaped," Vortex finished for him. With the charge again dispersed, Vortex picked up where he'd left off, but slower this time, almost gentle. "So you put yourself in harm's way."

First Aid nodded. His intakes hitched, and his hips rolled to meet Vortex's slow thrusts. "We have files on you, you're a… a case study for certain psychological…" The sentence died in a haze of static. "I studied you, I put myself… somewhere you could find me. Oh Sigma, this is so wrong."

A haze of rain began to fall, turning to steam where it hit their armour. Vortex licked the moisture from the Autobot's throat. "Why does it have to be wrong?"

"You could have killed me, you could have hurt me, I didn't know you wouldn't, not with a high enough… oh scrap!" First Aid tensed, his valve clenching hard. "There wasn't a high enough probability that you wouldn't to make it an acceptable risk!"

"You came anyway," Vortex commented. And hot scrap, but the Autobot was on the verge of overload. He pulled almost all the way out, and First Aid moaned in unmistakable frustration.

The medic heaved for air. "I shouldn't have," he repeated.

"But you did. And again, and again. Keeping your team in the dark, not letting anyone know. And now here you are. You like it, don't you?"

Vortex would have loved for First Aid to have lied, to have said that he didn't while his systems returned from the brink of climax and his valve tightened so beautifully around the very tip of Vortex's spike. But First Aid simply sighed. "Yes," he said quietly. "And I know I shouldn't, but…"

"But you can't help it?" Vortex suggested. "But the thrill of the chase gets your engine going like nothing else? Except maybe the thrill of getting caught, of giving up control for as long as I want to have you, and _frag_ you're a kinky little glitch, aren't you?"

"I didn't think it would be that way," First Aid managed.

"You didn't think you'd like it?"

He sighed again. "I don't know. Maybe. I knew what I wanted, I just..." His optics blinked on, filling his visor with the palest blue light. He met Vortex's stare, but didn't seem to know what to say next.

Vortex couldn't help but smile. "You like this?" he said, and squeezed First Aid's wrists. The medic nodded. "And this?" He pushed back inside, grinding their hips together and making the metal squeal. The answering nod was emphatic, and the flush of embarrassment beneath the thin metal of his cheeks was oddly endearing.

"I didn't realise how, um, much I'd like it," First Aid said, his voice as soft as the angles of his face. "Giving up control, being… held down. Forced."

"Being used?" Vortex said, and the tightening of First Aid's valve was enough of an answer in itself. "And now there's a little voice at the back of your processor asking you what the frag you think you're doing talking to me about this, right?"

The slightest of nods this time. "I shouldn't have…"

The rain increased, and a little of the heat ebbed away.

"Frag 'shouldn't. I'm gonna want you again." He couldn't see himself _not_ wanting the medic. "If I chase you, will you let yourself get caught?"

"You'd… want that?" First Aid seemed uncertain.

Vortex thrust suddenly, sharply; the Autobot squirmed. "Can you play the victim for me?" He ran a possessive hand from First Aid's wrists to the wheel well by his shoulder. "Can you struggle when I want you to, and give in completely and utterly when I want your submission more than your defiance?"

The medic's frame quivered, but his voice was oddly steady. "Depends," he said, and wrapped his legs around Vortex's hips.

"On?"

"This… it isn't healthy. There need to be rules."

"Of course there do." Vortex almost laughed, but the sensation of the Autobot pulling himself further onto his spike was enough to cull that impulse. "You'll want a failsafe." His rotors dripped a steady stream of water onto the ground either side of First Aid's head. He shook them, and the droplets cascaded. "Rain," he said. "It's a good a word as any. Just say it, and I'll stop."

"You will?" First Aid said, as his temperature again began to climb.

Vortex regained his earlier rhythm; this time, he was determined to see it through until overload. "If it means I get to have you," he said, and it seemed to be all the answer the Autobot needed.


	2. Responsibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After agreeing on a safeword, First Aid and Vortex continue their secret meetings.
> 
>  
> 
> Contains sticky and nonsticky, angst, fluff, BDSM, and the rampant abuse of the humble semi colon.
> 
> This is a bit of an experiment - I wanted to see if I could write a story with plot twists, action and porn using nothing but microfics. I hope it works :)
> 
> In total there are 130 microfics, written to prompts taken from a prompt comm on LJ (can't remember which one, and AO3 ate my link), with some kindly donated by spacehussy and jarakrisafis.
> 
> Massive thanks to spacehussy, femme4jack and naboru <3

**Part 1**

 

01\. Evidence  
Reporting back at HQ, First Aid gave account of his whereabouts and activities for the hours his radio had malfunctioned, all the while on edge in case their team bond or a scrap of grey paint on his white gave him away.

 

02\. I'm here  
With his optics off, the darkness was absolute; First Aid remained quiet, obedient, shaking ever so slightly until a light possessive touch on his cheek, a whisper, "I'm here."

 

03\. Funeral  
"It's your funeral," Vortex snarled with feigned frustration, as his shot went wide and his Protectobot's team mate scrabbled to safety.

 

04\. Puppy love  
"Look at me like you love me, like you worship me, like I'm the only thing you ever wanna see... That's it, now take me deeper."

 

05\. Gloves  
First Aid didn't always keep gloves in his portable medikit - they had a limited application in front line work - but after Vortex noticed he had a pair and made certain suggestions with regard to their use, he added them to the regular inventory.

 

06\. Blackboard  
Chin in hand and optics barely focused on the blackboard, First Aid tried to follow Perceptor's lecture on time travel, and succeeded only in thinking about things that made his temperature rise and his components tingle.

 

07\. Muse  
Someone made a comment about the Protectobot medic, how pretty he'd look spread out on the floor; joors later, slick to his elbows with the other mech's fluids, Vortex spared a thought for First Aid and how inspirational he could be.

 

08\. Magic  
There was magic in the Autobot's submission, delight in his enthusiasm, and wonder in how well he could feign terror.

 

09\. Clean  
Where he had been scrupulous in the washracks, First Aid became obsessive, checking and re-checking to make sure not a trace of grey or teal remained.

 

10\. Secret  
"How long can we keep this a secret?" First Aid whispered, but Vortex was too busy fastening the restraints to reply.

 

11\. Superstition  
It became a ritual: cleanser, solvent, fold the cloth in on itself covering the traces of Decepticon paint, put the cloth in his subspace, burn it at the earliest opportunity; missing a stage made him nervous, missing two or more brought him close to panic.

 

12\. Fantasy  
On lonely nights in his bunk, valve tight around his own fingers, First Aid entertained the fantasy that Vortex would defect.

 

13\. Test  
"Try pulling on them again," Vortex said, inspecting the chains for new weaknesses; this was the last time he bought supplies from Swindle.

 

14\. Tease  
The coordinates arrived on a coded private channel twenty-four hours before rendez-vous; First Aid replied with a snippet of memory from their last encounter, and Vortex responded with just one word: tease.

 

15\. Storm  
Electro-magnetic interference was the most useful kind, the storm their shield.

 

16\. Strawberries  
The little blocks of ener-gel reminded First Aid of strawberries; lips parted, he accepted each one as Vortex chose to present it to him, and he couldn't help but wish that the intention was as romantic as the result.

 

17\. Weapon  
As appealing as he found gentleness, it was in the moments when Vortex demonstrated exactly what kind of a weapon he was that First Aid felt the most free.

 

18\. Beach  
Vortex stopped at the safe word; the beach had not been the best of plans, and now they both had sand in their gears.

 

19\. Lost  
Clichéd as it was, First Aid could think of no better description for his state of mind during overload than 'lost in the moment'.

 

20\. Cry  
He screamed himself hoarse under Vortex's careful ministrations, grateful for having finally found somewhere secure and completely soundproof.

 

21\. Aloof  
"They think they're better than us," Vortex said, in one of his rare introspective moments, "but you don't."

 

22\. Blood  
"You're bleeding."  
"It's nothing."  
"It's not nothing. Sit down before you fall down."  
"Yes, doctor... I think I'm going to like this."

 

23\. Tower Block  
An urban battle, an accidental meeting in the shadow of a tower block; Vortex contemplated abducting the medic for real, and First Aid almost let him.

 

24\. Taxi  
Blast Off disgorged the rotary for yet another of his sordid trysts. "I'm not your taxi," he growled, and was gone.

 

25\. Search  
They lingered too long, drowsy and contented, and the rotary barely escaped before Blades' searchlights lit on their hideaway.

 

26\. Enemy  
In time, it ceased to matter how often he reminded himself of Vortex's crimes, the word 'enemy' had long since lost its meaning.

 

27\. Desert  
Optimus' death was a blow, Ratchet's and Wheeljack's stripped the world of joy and left the Protectobots alone in a desert of grief; First Aid clung to his team, and Vortex, strangely, did not pursue.

 

28\. Cold  
The tombs were built, the eulogies spoken; Blades came to him after, needy and lonely and desperate, but even as the heat blossomed in his frame First Aid could not dispel the cold.

 

29\. Sting  
"About last night, I was hoping-"  
"Please don't. I can't do this, I'm sorry."  
"Forget it."

 

30\. Affection  
He chased after Blades, of course he did, but no display of platonic affection could mend the wounds that only time could heal.

 

**Part 2**

 

001\. Lively  
Vortex wriggled his way onto Onslaught's desk, and then his lap; frustratingly stoic, Onslaught worked around him.

 

002\. Remorseful  
There were only so many ways to say sorry, and only so many opportunities; in the wake of Ratchet's death Hoist had not immediately ascended to Chief Medical Officer, and all eyes were on First Aid.

 

003\. Dismiss  
"I'm all right, really," First Aid said, and handed a sheaf of reports to Hot Spot. "These need your attention far more than I do."

 

004\. Heavy  
"Are you sure it won't be too much?" Hot Spot's words looped in First Aid's mind while the new Prime heard his oath as Chief Medical Officer, and they signed their glyphs to the final form.

 

005\. Forward  
A new dawn on Earth, an orange sky bright as Autobot City, and a lone mech crossing the threshold of a room gilded by the sunrise and weighted with recollections of the departed.

 

006\. Prowl  
Vortex missed the hunt, the thrill of the chase, but most of all he missed the sweet moment of submission when his enemy cleaved to his touch; creeping slowly towards the sleeping Stunticon, Vortex could only hope this one would be more satisfying in that regard than the last.

 

007\. Cut  
Daniel insisted on holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the extension to medbay; Rodimus fumbled with the over-sized scissors, and First Aid smiled for the first time in months as Daniel read out the solemn speech he had written all by himself.

 

008\. Compromise  
Breakdown shivered, thighs parted only for the reassurance; Vortex filled him only for the physical release.

 

009\. Impulse  
It was by impulse that First Aid tested the old frequency he had used to communicate with Vortex; tested, but he did not send the message he'd prepared, he had that much self control.

 

010\. Hush  
Five minutes of downtime in forty-two hours; not long enough for recharge, just long enough for the doubts and the need to surface in the hush.

 

011\. Morals  
It was not OK to send the message, but it was OK, in the safety and isolation of his bunk, to pretend that he had.

 

012\. Engage  
As Defensor he raised the gun, he squeezed the trigger; as Defensor he took a stern satisfaction in reducing Bruticus to his component parts.

 

013\. Voice  
As himself, he conjured scarlet optics in the dead of night, low whispers ripped from memory, the ghost of a touch and the tantalising spectre of true release.

 

014\. Awkward  
No longer based on Earth, getting the Autobot alone could be awkward, even without his change in status; awkward, but not impossible.

 

015\. Lower  
A hand on his armour - his own, but he could forget that for the moment - light touch moving lower... and lower.

 

016\. Plead  
"Please don't let me die, please, oh frag it hurts, it hurts so much. Please!" The memory stayed with him; "I did everything I could."

 

017\. Caring  
He could have saved them - with the right tools on hand, with an extra burst of speed - he could have saved them, and it hurt.

 

018\. Believe  
"You're the best," Hot Spot said, swinging his feet off the repair berth, "We believe in you."

 

019\. Found  
"Found you." A rotary grinned in the gloom, and for the briefest of moments First Aid thought it was Vortex; he didn't dare acknowledge his disappointment when he realised it was not.

 

020\. Shield  
It rubbed him raw - their pain, their fear, the choices he was forced to make in triage - and there was nothing he could raise as a barrier between himself and their suffering.

 

021\. Open  
First Aid's door was always open; later Streetwise wondered if that might have been part of the problem.

 

022\. Tactile  
Vortex shut down his visual sensors, and gripped Swindle roughly by the hips; a little bribery for Swindle to keep quiet and a lot of imagination, and this might just work.

 

023\. Journey  
Reassigned to Earth, Vortex was strangely quiet in Blast Off's cargo hold.

 

024\. Scowl  
"You should take some leave," Ultra Magnus said, but the words were partly lost in static, and First Aid chose to ignore them in favour of patching up his arm.

 

025\. Hero  
Exhausted, First Aid escaped the reception before anyone could start thanking him.

 

026\. Hooked  
He awoke to a message on that long-inactive private frequency; he was on the road before he'd fully woken up.

 

027\. Charisma  
Masks abandoned, First Aid let himself be caught altogether too easily; but it had been so long, and scrap but he had a weakness for that wicked smile.

 

028\. Escape  
No props, no chains, no toys, just the rotary's superior size and weight, his strength, and First Aid's eager pleading need to lose himself in submission.

 

029\. Damaged  
He came quickly, his cries muffled around Vortex's fingers; and the little voice that told him he was damaged for wanting this faded into nothing.

 

030\. Perfect  
Kneeling on the gritty floor, aching inside and out with the most exquisite satisfaction, First Aid took the spike in his mouth.

 

031\. Obscene

Hands on the medic's helm, guiding his rhythm; soft words framing obscene demands, and every one of them met.

 

**Part 3**

 

01\. Defiant

Blades dumped his severed rotor blade on the table, refusing to wince, and refusing to look at First Aid while gruffly answering his team mate's questions.

 

02\. Powder

The snow fell lightly, like powdered sugar, but the wind was getting up and First Aid spent an anxious evening worrying about two rotaries out in the night.

 

03\. Contempt

Swindle's contempt was clear, his expression well-lit by the glittering facets of Metroplex's transformation cog, but his kick wasn't as hard as expected, and First Aid began to wonder how much Vortex's team mates knew.

 

04\. Decent

In the junkyard, First Aid thought a lot about right and wrong, about the decent thing to do and the compromise between idealism and necessity.

 

05\. Union

Reunited with his team, First Aid had barely a moment to himself; it took months for them to trust that he wouldn't just up and leave again.

 

06\. Cleansed

Vortex didn't ask what had happened, and First Aid wasn't prepared to tell him, but the frantic heat of interface helped where words never could.

 

07\. Go

"You have an appointment," Hoist said, "But you're far too polite to ask me to extend my shift. Go! I'm sure whoever it is will still be waiting."

 

08\. Shame

"Just a drive?" Blades folded his arms, expression stern. "Should I shut up and be grateful you came back? Where were you?"

 

09\. Objective

"The objective was to lick me clean, but look at the mess you've made. Straighten up, start again."

 

10\. Strength

He should have drawn his strength from his team, and the realisation that he didn't should have shocked him to the core.

 

11\. Life

Routine was impossible, but a predictable life would have stifled them both.

 

12\. Grateful

On Cybertron, the Paradronian influx came with a slew of new problems and a clogged maintenance schedule; First Aid shared a glance with Hoist across the busy waiting room and dimmed his optics in silent thanks.

 

13\. Wrong

Tense struts, a controlled exvent unheard in the buzz of medbay; 'Can't get away now. Tomorrow?', 'Window of opportunity is three joors. It's now or next orn.'

 

14\. Sweeten

"You look like you could do with this." The new triplechanger stood companionably close, cube in hand; his tail rotors spun lazily above his head, and his smile was wide and friendly.

 

15\. Hands

His designation was Sandstorm, and he was good with his hands; it wasn't quite what First Aid needed, but it took the edge off, and without the complications of going to his team.

 

16\. Strangle

"Just do it," Blast Off said to Swindle, "Wrap up the deal so we can go home before Vortex tries to throttle you and I'm forced to shoot everyone."

 

17\. Lullaby

Vortex dozed all the way back to Charr, propped against the cargo hold wall, half listening to the shuttle's soft background hum.

 

18\. Untouchable

Wildrider eventually raised his hands and stepped away from the Autobot; Vortex seized his quivering prize, and made good their exit.

 

19\. Whispered

Face to the wall, a hand sliding over his aft, between his thighs, cables swinging, connected; a whisper, "Mine."

 

20\. Prayers

The Paradronian Senate sung a chant to the creation matrix, and First Aid thought of his own creators, thankful that mourning was finally giving way to a bearable fond sadness.

 

21\. Obvious

"It's been more than twelve orns since I received a complaint about you," Onslaught said. "What are you up to?"

 

22\. Rhythm

Relocated permanently to Cybertron to serve the growing population, First Aid soon found a rhythm to his days, one that Hoist or Host Spot or Groove occasionally interrupted to comment on how much happier he seemed now, how much more settled.

 

23\. Afterlife

Rumours circulated that Starscream had come back as a ghost, even Vortex was convinced; First Aid would have given it no credence, except that sometimes during complex operations he felt Ratchet's hand on his, and could bask in the warm comfort of his creator's energy field once again.

 

24\. Hidden

"I would have thought you and Blades..." Sandstorm began, only half flirting; First Aid just shook his head, and Sandstorm never asked again.

 

25\. Parade

Off duty, First Aid took a copy of one of Rewind's files and sat on the ruined highway between Iacon and Praxus; he played the file and the highway came alive, a procession in joyful colour, the exuberance of a society long dead.

 

26\. Touch

Rough or soft, harsh or gentle, he didn't know what to expect, just that Vortex would make sure he enjoyed it.

 

27\. Free

In the darkness under Iacon, they salvaged scraps of the old world and made a new retreat.

 

28\. Enjoy

They had thirty-six hours until he would be missed; First Aid lay warm and satiated, held tight to the sleeping rotary's chest, and enjoyed the illusion of love.

 

29\. Shining

Visor to visor, they didn't notice the accidental brief shine of a tiny light from the ventilation shaft high on the wall.

 

30\. Overflow

Acid runoff trickled through the overflow pipe as the Skuxxoid made good his escape, camera tucked safely in his backpack; he giggled softly to himself, calculating the value of sale to the various galactic news networks.

 

31\. Quarry

Viewing the first excerpts to be broadcast - the chase, the struggle, the screaming - Ultra Magnus assumed it was rape; when he got hold of the full recording, it became clear it was fraternisation.

 

32\. Pure

First Aid was new to this kind of shame, as intense and pure and urgent as the deepest of his needs; it was only a mercy they sent Streetwise to explain the charges.

 

33\. Intoxicated

Vortex had never been so drunk, buoyed up on the tide of rank-and-file approval for his seduction of the Autobot Chief Medical Officer; and he had never regretted his drunkenness so badly as when he learned from the news broadcast playing loud through the rec room that First Aid had been arrested.

 

34\. Parts

There were two parts to his gestalt: First Aid, and everyone else; when Hot Spot asked "How long?" and he answered honestly "Twenty-four years", the rift only widened.

 

35\. Design

Vortex stared at the schematics until his optics went funny; why did (illicit) plans (formulated and undertaken without the consent or knowledge of his superior officer) have to be so hard?

 

36\. Pretend

"I need it for training," Vortex lied, eyeing up the tasty selection of ordnance, and keeping his optics well away from his forged requisition form. "C'mon, Onslaught's waiting."

 

37\. Responsible

He would accept whatever punishment the newly convened courts had to offer; it could hardly be worse than the harm he had done to his team and his faction, and the gnawing hollow grief at the loss of his partner.

 

38\. Loophole

"If it emerged that he coerced you, the charges would almost certainly be dropped."  
"Smokescreen, I can't lie..."  
"You already lied plenty, what's another?"

 

39\. Gone

When Streetwise left the cells in the evening, First Aid was sitting calmly on his bunk; in the morning there was only a holographic projector and a hole in the floor, and the medic was nowhere to be seen.

 

**Part 4**

 

01\. Foolish

It had been foolish to go with Vortex, but the rotary had risen up from the ruins of the cell floor and demanded, 'Come with me,' and First Aid hadn't stopped to think.

 

02\. Underneath

"What now?" First Aid said, as they sat in a bunker beneath the ruins of Praxus; Vortex shrugged and smirked, and passed the high grade.

 

03\. Protection

Although sparsely populated by sentient mechs, the areas of Cybertron now safest for them were rife with other dangers; Vortex dealt with attacks from Transorganics and energon leeches, and First Aid protected them from metal fatigue and cosmic rust.

 

04\. Hide

They couldn't go back to Iacon, they couldn't ship out to Charr, so they took the only direction likely to buy them some time: down.

 

05\. Tomorrow.

First Aid was surprised to awake without regrets; he was equally surprised to find Vortex still wrapped around him, half in recharge and with no intention of moving for a good long while.

 

06\. Lies

"Hot Spot, what does the gestalt bond tell you?"  
"He was abducted, he wasn't complicit."  
"Can you locate him?"  
"No."

 

07\. Fireworks

With all the time in the world, their first interface was still hurried, quick and giddy; their second was longer, but just as intense.

 

08\. Audience

Two days after the disappearance, Cyclonus contacted Ultra Magnus to arrange for a prisoner exchange, but when Ultra Magnus was found not to have Vortex, and Cyclonus admitted to having only a lost Paradronian, the pieces began to fall into place.

 

09\. Unforeseen

Afterwards, with the shared overload still tingling through their circuits, Vortex did something completely unexpected; he began to talk about Cybertron.

 

10\. Ataraxias

"Think they'll ever come back?" Sandstorm asked as he eased himself onto Octane's impressive spike; "I wouldn't."

 

11\. Nostalgia

When Vortex spoke about the past - and each new metallic cavern and abandoned gallery seemed to spark a fresh recollection - First Aid began to notice new things about him, pleasing things.

 

12\. Bitter

Blades cracked his knuckles as he paced; "What if he doesn't want to be found?" But Hot Spot failed to respond.

 

13\. Study

"We could go to Monacus," Vortex mused while First Aid studied the ancient instruction manual for the equally ancient energon refiner they had found. "No? How about Vegas?"

 

14\. Heartache

"It was just the once," Blades said, as he dodged Hot Spot's attempt to touch his arm. "After Autobot City... It was a mistake."

 

15\. Confusion

A crescendo of questions, reporters and patients and the curious and angry all thronging his waiting room, filling his sick-bay; in the confusion Hoist could easily see himself missing someone in genuine need.

 

16\. Words

On the fourth day, Vortex began to ask First Aid questions - about his life before everything fell apart, about his plans, his hopes; at first suspicious, the more questions he asked, the more it looked as though Vortex was genuinely curious, and the more First Aid opened up.

 

17\. Wishing

Rodimus was certain there would be a ransom demand, Blades knew there wouldn't; Hot Spot wished First Aid would re-open the bond and give them even the slightest indication that he wanted to come home.

 

18\. Lull

Exhaustion tugged at him, heavier than the rotary's protective arm, but in the quiet his thoughts kept returning to his team and everyone he had left behind.

 

19\. Stranger

"I don't know who I am any more," First Aid said; Vortex kissed the back of his neck and whispered, "I can show you."

 

20\. Broken wings

"It's my fault," Blades said to Hot Spot, coming to a rest in alt after a seventh day of fruitless searching. "The way I treated him after... I drove him away."

 

21\. Return

They still played their old games, assuming the roles that had first drawn them together; for Vortex is was an outlet, for First Aid it was a respite from the guilt and the shame and the cruel overbearing responsibility.

 

22\. Final

"This can't last forever. Our teams, they need us."  
"Then say the word."  
"Rain."

 

23\. Fit

They came together one last time, a perfect fit.

 

24\. Insanity

Vortex escorted him to the edge of Iacon; "Don't think I won't come for you," he said, "They can't lock you up forever." First Aid couldn't stop the words: "I'll be waiting."

 

25\. Clear skies

First Aid walked openly under the crystalline Iacon sky; when enough time had passed for Vortex to be truly gone, he opened the bond and turned himself in.

 

26\. Rules

Swindle snuck into the brig, bringing him energon and news in return for favours owed; "They got intel from the Autobots, they're still listing all the rules you broke; you'll be lucky if you get a release date."

 

27\. Agony

Blades stood the other side of the energon bars, a world of regret written on his face; the silence stretched out, and when they finally spoke, it was in awkward unexpected unison, "I'm so sorry."

 

28\. Conditional

"It's all been sorted out," Smokescreen said. "Vortex abducted you against your will. You'll be released into Hot Spot's custody; Hoist is more than ready to have you back in medbay. Don't mess this up for yourself again."

 

29\. Compliment

The isolation could have grated, the cell could have bored him to a self-destructive rage, but Vortex fell back on his stock of recent memories and the free movement of his hands; it had all been worth it, and he would do it again in an instant.

 

30\. Sorrow

Blades held First Aid through the howling, stabbing grief, the agony of regret; not a lover-in-waiting any more, but a friend.


	3. Epilogue

First Aid left the clinic by the back door, and made his weary way to the nearest bar. He could use some coolant, and a sit down. And maybe a small cube of mid-grade, with manganese sprinkles on top. 

A joyous clamour reached him from the main streets. Through gaps between buildings he saw streamers and glitter, wild grins and the flailing limbs of revellers who'd reached one too many half a cycle ago. 

He smiled. Five years since the end of the war, and the anniversary of the declaration of peace had become Cybertron's biggest festival. Even in Polyhex, where the infrastructure was rudimentary at best and the ancient ruins harboured all manner of threats. Even here in the wreckage of Dead End people threw their all into the party.

Most people, he thought, and rolled his aching shoulders. 

He could celebrate tomorrow, he had a short shift. Maybe he could call Blades or Groove; they could show him the celebrations on Earth. He could pretend he missed them half as much as they missed him. 

He slunk into the bar and leaned heavily on the counter. The barkeep was busy; he could identify with that. And wasn't it what kept him in Polyhex? He had options: Iacon, New Praxus, Altihex, all shining examples of Cybertron's recovery. Hoist would find a job for him. But no, he'd come here to Dead End, to the worst of places where he could make the biggest difference. 

He hoped. 

It wasn't like he'd been running away. 

First Aid sighed and flipped up his visor to rub his optics. 

The barkeep came over. "Evening," he said. He pushed a cube of something thick and expensive smelling across the bar before First Aid could say anything, and rolled off to start cleaning glasses. 

"Uh..." First Aid waved to grab his attention. "Excuse me..." But the barkeep was facing the other way, and besides the place had begun to fill up. If he was going to get a seat, it was now or never. He picked up his unexpected free drink.

"Want some company?"

The voice shivered through him, an agony of loss and regret, a sliver of need. First Aid didn't want to turn around. It couldn't be; the Combaticons were gone, playing mercenary on alien worlds. If they were back on Cybertron he would have seen them on the news. 

"I hope I guessed right," the voice continued. "The receptionist at the clinic said you'd hadn't had a day off in orns. I thought you could use a drink."

"I..." First Aid forced himself to turn. "I don't... How... I..."

"Told you I'd come back for you," Vortex said. He took First Aid's glass before he could drop it. 

"I thought you'd gone. They locked you up. I'm so sorry."

"Forget it," Vortex said. "It was worth it. You wanna get a table?" 

The 'yes' caught in his throat, and First Aid took back his drink. His weariness had gone, turning to vapour at the touch of Vortex's energy field. "Not any more," he said, and took a sip. It was warm and sweet, and hit the back of his throat like a flamethrower. He downed it all. 

Vortex leaned in, a hand on Aid's hip, that wicked smile firmly in place. "They can't stop us," he whispered. "Not any more. They won't like it, but there's no factions now, no charge they could make. I want you."

First Aid carefully set the glass on a table. He leaned up until his lips found Vortex's audials. "If I run," he whispered, "will you follow?"

"To the ends of the universe," Vortex replied. "There's nowhere you can hide I won't find you. I told you I'd come for you."

"And I told you I'd be waiting," First Aid said. He pressed their helms together, then slowly disengaged. "I missed you," he said, and headed for the door. 

Vortex watched his chronometer spin through fifty astroseconds before he gave chase.


End file.
